Joshua Gravens

Joshua Gravens will educate Texas policymakers, law enforcement, the legal profession, and the general public about the harms associated with placing children on sex offense registries.

Gravens is a husband and father of four from Dallas, Texas. He is an advocate for criminal justice reform, focusing on children who are placed on sex offense registries. His interest in this area stems from his own placement on the Texas registry for a choice made when he was 12. Growing up on the registry has given him a unique perspective on the stigma, barriers in obtaining gainful employment and stable housing, and psychological harms caused by registration policy, particularly on young children. He is an active participant in Texas Voices, an organization that seeks to reform sex offense laws; and he has brought attention to this issue by making public his experience through television, print media, and speaking engagements. In November 2012, Gravens went before the judge in his juvenile case and was removed from the public sex offense registry.